to: amend account keeping and licence fee administration arrangements for commercial broadcasters and datacasting transmitter licensees; remove duplicative requirements for licensees, publishers and controllers to notify the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) of certain changes in control of regulated media assets; provide a consistent classification arrangement for all television programs, including films; and amend two statutory publication requirements;

National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011

to provide that NBN Co may dispose of surplus non-communications goods;

Telecommunications Act 1997

to: correct a technical error in relation to the admissibility of certain evidence in court proceedings; remove the requirement for the ACMA to consult with an advisory committee before declaring a submarine cable protection zone; and remove the ability of NBN Co to issue and keep a register of statements that it will not be installing fibre in a new real estate development;

Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005

and

Broadcasting Services Act 1992

to remove duplication in the complaints handling and information gathering functions of the ACMA;

Competition and Consumer Act 2010

to remove the ability of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to issue tariff filing directions to certain carriers and carriage service providers;

Competition and Consumer Act 2010

and

Telecommunications Act 1997

to amend the statutory information collection powers of the ACMA and the ACCC;

and Remuneration Tribunal (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 1976 to make the Remuneration Tribunal (the tribunal) the responsible body for setting the remuneration of the Managing Director of Australia Post; and

National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011

to make the tribunal the responsible body for setting the remuneration of the Chief Executive Officer of NBN Co.

to: prevent the Australian Competition Tribunal from reviewing decisions made under the National Electricity Law, the National Gas Law and the National Energy Retail Law, other than decisions relating to the disclosure of confidential or protected information; and provide that decisions made by the Australian Energy Regulator under those laws are not subject to merits review by any other state or territory body.

to: create specific requirements for country of origin labelling for food; extend country of origin labelling to all packaged and unpackaged food for retail sale; restrict the range of labelling to three kinds of claim; and create penalties and defences; and

to: clarify that ‘competition’ includes competition from goods and services that are capable of importation, in addition to those actually imported; confine the application of cartel conduct provisions to conduct affecting competition in Australian markets; change the scope of the joint venture exceptions; remove provisions relating to the anti-competitive disclosure of pricing and other information (known as price signalling); prohibit a corporation from engaging in a concerted practice that has the purpose, effect or likely effect of substantially lessening competition; remove the separate prohibition on exclusionary provisions; define ‘contract’ and ‘party’ to include covenants; increase the maximum penalty applying to breaches of the secondary boycott provisions; prohibit third line forcing only where it has the purpose, effect or likely effect of substantially lessening competition; enable a corporation or person to notify the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) of resale price maintenance conduct, as an alternative to seeking authorisation from the commission for such conduct; provide an exemption from the resale price maintenance prohibition for conduct between related bodies corporate; consolidate authorisation provisions, including those relating to mergers, into a single authorisation process; grant the ACCC with ‘class exemption’ and ‘stop notice’ powers; provide for reviews by the Australian Competition Tribunal of merger authorisation determinations by the ACCC; enable a party bringing certain proceedings to rely on both admissions of fact and finding of fact made in certain other proceedings; extend the ACCC’s power to obtain information, documents and evidence in relation to investigations of alleged contraventions or court enforceable undertakings and merger authorisation determinations, and introduce a ‘reasonable search’ defence in relation to the failure or refusal to comply with a notice to produce such documents; implement recommendations made by the Productivity Commission in relation to the National Access Regime; streamline administration of the Act, particularly in relation to requirements of the Australian Consumer Law; and make consequential amendments; and

to: prohibit the supply in trade or commerce of anything that includes an Indigenous cultural expression, unless it is done in accordance with an arrangement with the relevant Indigenous community and artist and the thing is made in Australia; and create an offence for the supply of anything that includes an Indigenous cultural expression without an arrangement with the relevant Indigenous community and artist.

to: ensure that, when a supplier provides a customer with an itemised bill or proof of transaction, the document is given in paper form unless the customer consents to receiving it electronically; and ensure that customers are not charged a fee for receiving the document in paper.

to impose a penalty on Australian cattle exporters who do not take reasonable steps to ensure that Australian cattle that is slaughtered, or processed after slaughter, in a foreign country is not marketed as Australian beef.

to: allow the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman to provide assistance in advising and preparing a person’s case for a no adverse costs order in proceedings in relation to contraventions of Part IV of the

Competition and Consumer Act 2010

; and require the number of requests for assistance in relation to an application for a no adverse costs order to be included in the Ombudsman’s annual report; and

Competition and Consumer Act 2010

to: allow for a no adverse costs order to be sought, at any time during proceedings, by a person bringing an action in relation to loss or damage by conduct of another person that was done in contravention of Part IV of the Act; and specify the circumstances in which the court is able to make a no adverse costs order.